The present invention relates to the creation and display of photographic slideshows on an electronic device.
Many electronic devices are capable of displaying images, video files, or other types of media. For example, personal computers, portable electronic devices (such as the Apple iPod®, the Apple iPhone®, cellular phones, digital cameras, and other devices), and digital picture frames may be capable of displaying photographs. Many of these electronic devices may be capable of displaying photographs in succession as a slideshow.
Some electronic devices may include additional elements to slideshows. For example, digital movie creation software running on a personal computer may allow a user to place image files in a movie saved as a video file with various effects to create a photographic slideshow. The video file may be played back on other devices and can be exported to, for example, portable electronic devices as video files. However, such software programs may be large and a slideshow created in this manner cannot be changed unless the user edits the movie in digital movie creation or editing software on a personal computer.
Some slideshow creation software operating on a personal computer or over the internet may enable the user to create a slideshow with additional elements. The slideshows created by this software can be viewed over the internet or saved on a personal computer, and can also sometimes be exported to another electronic device. Once the slideshow is created, however, it generally cannot be changed unless a user edits it in slideshow creation software or digital movie editing software.
Some portable electronic devices may add simple effects to the display of a slideshow. For example, some portable electronic devices give users the option to play an audio file while a slideshow plays or to indicate transition elements, such as a bar wipe, in which a bar moves across the screen revealing the next photograph to be displayed.
Although the various approaches described above may be useful, they do not allow electronic devices to create slideshows dynamically, using contextual information, photographs, theme elements, and any other information available to the electronic device.